August 28/29th: Ritter Sport Schokocreme

Kcal 578 Fat 40.0g Carbs 50.0g (per 100.0g)

Just when I thought it had gone a little quiet on the Ritter Sport front, last week a 2.0kg box arrived on my doorstep (poor postie!). Inside the well packaged Ritter Sport branded parcel, there were eight bars of this new Schokocreme flavour - that is Chocolate Cream of course to us Brits. On the wrapper the new bar came described as 'milk chocolate with a chocolate cream filling (43.0%) and small rice cereal pieces (2.5%)'. In proposition this didn't sound like the most innovative or exciting of all the flavours to come out of Ritter HQ recently, but I approached it with an open mind and roped in some of my fellow family members to try it with me (I say that as if it took much convincing :D )

As I have noted above the package I received from Ritter was rather large, which is lucky for you guys as it means I have the opportunity to give one of these bars away. If you can do some easy maths and calculate the weight of this bar, pop me an e-mail at Jim[@]ChocolateMission.net (take out the brackets!) Winner announced Saturday 4th September. As you will no doubt have noticed in my photo above, this was another presale sample sent to me by Ritter, so the packaging on show is not actually the finished article. From what I could gauge from the products received, I think it would be a safe assumption to make that the eventual presentation will be just fine. Sat in the middle of the standard sized blocks, the chocolate cream looked well portioned, whilst the small specs of rice cereal were also very evident.

Smelling the chocolate, my senses were soon filled with some familiar Ritter Sport milk chocolate scents that did a sound job of setting up the taste that followed. Placing the first block in my mouth the experience started out like most other Ritter milk chocolate bars do, with the taste fast taking a sugary cocoa led flavour base. Excuse me again for repeating myself from past reviews, but whilst the chocolate was fine and did a sound job of providing the chocolate flavour hit, it was pretty generic in taste and had nothing about it that made me want to shout how great it was from any rooftops. In the centre of the blocks the chocolate cream did little to enhance the sugary, milky flavours of the chocolate, though it did at least offer a differentiated texture that felt softer and smoother during the duration of it's melt. Throughout the chocolate cream the small crispy pieces similarly didn't prove to be the most compelling flavour wise with their mild rice cereal suggestions. On the plus side however, they did bring a degree of interest to the textures with their crunchy, disruptive mouth feel a nice contrast from the faster melting, smoother chocolate constituents.

Overall it was felt by not only myself but my entire family that this was a pretty average Ritter Sport offering. Whilst it was fine at fulfilling the proposition it put forward, the flavour combination wilts in the presence of some of the other more distinctive offerings that there are in the range. A thing that particularly disappointed myself about this chocolate was the fact that Ritter Sport have continued not to implement their finer milk chocolate recipe across the rest of their range (See that bar HERE). I think another opportunity that they had with this chocolate was also to differentiate the outer milk chocolate, with the inner chocolate creme. I think it would have certainly of been interesting to see what a bar with a milk chocolate exterior and dark chocolate cream filling would have been like - that would have been a nice alternative to the Ritter Sport a la Mousse au Chocolat bar which happens to have this proposition just the other way around. To conclude this bar was absolutely fine at what it did, but it just wasn't all that special. Don't forget to enter the competition above - you better get your calculators out :D

7.2 out of 10

July 29th: Ritter Sport Rum, Raisin & Nuts

Kcal 507 Fat 29.0g Carbs 53.0g (per 100.0g)

If you have been reading the site over the last few weeks it is highly likely that you would have seen my review of Ritter Sport's latest flavour addition, their Espresso chocolate. When I was approached about reviewing that chocolate, I took the time to have a quick look across the entire Ritter Sport range, just to check if there were any glaring admissions that I hadn't covered yet. Looking across the last three years it appeared that I had done a pretty thorough job, with only two flavours missing from my collection. One of these, most annoyingly was Ritter's Cocos (coconut) flavour, which unfortunately now has been taken out of production. Whilst I unfortunately can't build a time machine to review that flavour, the other bar I hadn't reviewed was thankfully still in distribution, so today I have great delight in bringing you my review of Ritter Sport's Rum, Raisin & Nuts bar.

My contacts at Ritter sent me six bars of this flavour to sample (alot huh!?), anyone who leaves a comment with a correct guess of the bar's weight on todays review will automatically be entered in to a prize draw for one of three leftovers* - if anyone gets this wrong it will be beyond belief haha! Suffice to say both the packaging and the chocolate looked terrific, I hope you are enjoying the extreme close up today, I wanted to give you all a good view of the nuts and raisins! The glossy foil wrapper was not only nice on the eye and decent at communicating the flavour theme (albeit in German!), but it also did a sterling job of containing the delightful fruity chocolate run smells that burst out of the packet each and everytime the seal was breached.

If I can quickly point you in the direction of the review I wrote on the Ritter Sport Raisins & Hazelnuts bar I reviewed a few years ago, it is probably better that I write about where this bar differed to that original offering rather than simply regurgitate what I wrote back then. Fundamentally this chocolate offered much the same experience with the milk chocolate, raisins and hazelnut constituents altogether making for a terrifically tasty fruit and nut experience. Once again the milk chocolate wasn't the most profound in terms of quality, but it was fair in flavour and did it's usual job of carrying the inner ingredients well. The raisins and nuts delivered their sweet fruit and wooden nut flavours expertly, though I have to say the taste was taken a step further on by the introduction of the Jamaican Rum to fold. I'm no big rum drinker, but the integration of the liqueur in to the chocolate was magnificently handled, and was neither too strong or too weak. The fruity alcoholic taste was complimented terrifically by the warming mouth sensation it created. Quite simply it managed to tick the boxes in terms of enhancing both taste and texture, and made for a delicious, moreish chocolate.

Overall Ritter Sport may not always be seen as the most prestigious or up market brands, but the quality of this chocolate leads me to believe they could teach the likes of Hotel Chocolat, Thorntons etc a few lessons. As I passed reference to above, the quality of the milk chocolate you get with flavoured Ritter Sport bars does not compete with higher end brands, (I wish they would implement their new 35% recipe across their range!!) but one thing they generally deliver on is the quality of their flavoured fillings. This rum, raisin and nuts bar would be yet another glowing example of why they deserve such recognition - it was delicious in every sense. When I have tried alcohol flavoured chocolates in the past, I have often found that the spirits are too overpowering *ahem* Hotel Chocolat *ahem* or too weak, but the rum in this bar was nothing other than spot-on. It was flavoursome and created an impression with it's warming mouth feel, whilst still allowing full expression of the raisin and nut elements - it was almost perfect. I could go on for a long time rattling off superlatives, but it's probably best I just end with the statement that if you like rum & raisin chocolates you needn't look elsewhere.

8.8 out of 10

*winners announced at weekend. Multiple comments doesn't = multiple entries. Rules of this competition to my own discretion

July 21st: Ritter Sport Espresso

Kcal ??? Fat ??? Fat(sats) ??? Carbs ???

Having reviewed over 50+ Ritter Sport products in the last three years, you would of thought it would be impossible for me to be as excited as I was about trying one of their new flavours, but ever since I received the e-mail from my contacts at Ritter offering me the chance to get a sneak peak of their latest 'Espresso' flavour, I have literally been running to my door everytime the postman has dared venture anywhere near my postbox. Last week a big box of samples (more on that below!!) finally made it's way to me from Germany, included in which were several bars of this new Espresso variety. Unfortunately it wasn't me that signed for my package, so the rest of my family were well aware of the large Ritter branded parcel that had been sent my way :) As much as I selfishly wanted to keep these bars of 'milk chocolate with coffee cream' all to my greedy self I of course did the decent thing and shared - expect some second opinions floating about this review :D

I'm not sure you will have taken as much notice of the packaging as I did but the first thing that caught my eye was the word 'Neu' (translation: New) on the top left of the wrapper. By the looks of it, rather than being a limited edition flavour, this Espresso seems to be a permanent addition to the 100.0g Ritter range. You may be thinking that my photo of the wrapper looks slightly odd - well thats because the packs sent to me by Ritter were pre-sale samples, so they were mock-ups of what will actually be in market in a few months. Although the exterior packaging was made up off stickers stuck on to a generic white film packet, the chocolate itself was presented as it would be for the final product. The surface area of the chocolate looked smooth and dark in colour, and the bar broke with a pleasant snapping sound. Sandwiched between the two layers of outer chocolate, the filling looked nicely portioned and was evidently lighter in colour and noticeably differentiated in terms of appearance.

In 99% of cases the smell of a food is highly indicative of what it tastes like, so you can probably imagine that I was extremely receptive of the glorious coffee scents that were offered by the chocolate. These coffee smells were present everytime I went to eat a piece of this chocolate, and provided more than sufficient insight to the taste that I was to be treated to. As suggested by it's aesthetic appearance the chocolate melted with a delightfully soft smoothness and delivered the usual array of sweet, milky cocoa flavours that I have come so accustom to with Ritter Sport milk chocolate. As the soft melted developed the inner coffee cream filling started coming through slowly in the taste, and peaked in it's flavour delivery during the middle stage of each block melting on my tongue. To be put this in the frankest terms the coffee cream element of this chocolate tasted absolutely delicious. The centre filling gave a well strengthened, roasted coffee flavour burst that tasted both real and fresh. Various members of my family take their coffee in certain ways - ranging from milky white, to double espressos, yet all four of us agreed that this was pretty much spot on in strength. What has sometimes spoilt other brand's coffee chocolates before (See Green & Black's Espresso) is their tendency to have slightly bitter aftertastes. This Ritter offering thankfully balanced the end note of coffee with the sweetness of the base layer of milk chocolate. As a lover of coffee chocolate it was a bar I found very moreish, yet felt it had a satisfying richness to it due to the volume of flavour delivered with each block.

Overall this is one of ... if not THE best Ritter Sport flavour I believe the brand has to offer, and I simply can't wait for you guys to give me your own views on it. I have looked back across all my other Ritter Sport reviews, looking at the likes of the Karamell-Nuss, White Hazelnuts etc, and whilst those bars have got similarly high ratings, I think if I was told I could only have one Ritter Sport bar for the rest of time this probably be my bar of choice. Whilst in the past I have happily settled for the Ritter Sport Cappuiccino bar satisfying my Ritter chocolate coffee cravings, this bar blows it out the water. In the context of my other favourite coffee chocolates I would rank it up there with likes of Lindt's Excellence Coffee Intense - I think it is that good! This may not be a chocolate that is to everyones tastes, but if you like coffee flavoured chocolates I think this should be near the top of your 'must try' lists. I will happily concede that there is very, very marginal room for improvement in the milk chocolate, but when it comes to the quality of the coffee cream Ritter have metaphorically speaking 'hit the nail on the head' with this one. I needn't bother writing whether or not I recommend this bar - I think you all know the answer to that!

9.0 out of 10

Fancy winning one of these Ritter Sport Espresso bars for yourself? Take a look at my Twitter feed as I will be running a competition!!!

June 4th: Ritter Sport Milk Chocolate

Kcal 559 Fat 36.0g Carbs 52.0g (per 100.0g)

Is it me or does it seem like years ago since I last reviewed a pure milk chocolate bar? Everything I review nowadays seems to be filled with some sort of flavour enhancing filling - bacon, caramel, nuts ... you name it I have covered it. One of the key perpetrators (for loss of a better word!) when it comes to adding flavours and extra ingredients to their chocolates has to be Ritter Sport. Those with outstanding memories may recall that at the front end of 2009 I took a look at their entire plain milk chocolate range, which included a Alpine Milk, Organic and Diet offering - See HERE. Since then Ritter Sport have provided endless amounts of limited edition flavours, but more recently they have taken the time to adapt their core milk chocolate offering and have released a new bar for 2010 which I will be looking at today.

This new milk chocolate bar was sent to me in the standard 100.0g size from my contacts at Ritter in Germany and I ate it across a few sittings over the last week. On the face of things the wrapper wasn't that different to previous Ritter milk chocolate variants, with the only obvious differences being the minor changes in the blue colouring and picture placement. On closer inspection, there was some additional communication around the reformulation of the chocolate, which I will go in to in more detail later. Opening the wrapper up, the chocolate inside cut a very clean cut look, and it must be said the surface looked sharper and more shiny compared to other Ritter bars I have tried previously. In relation to aromas, the dairy scents on offer weren't anything I would say were a step change from the norm, though they did a pleasant job nonetheless of setting the mood.

I really hope Google translate is going to do me justice here, but from what I can tell the new 35% cocoa recipe combines Ritter's traditionally sourced West African cocoa with a new type of cocoa hailing from Ecuador. I'm no cocoa buff, but from the on-pack blurb and Ritter's website this was supposed to be really high quality produce, so it was always going to be interesting if this translated through to the taste. As soon as I placed the first piece in my mouth there some immediate noticeable differences from the standard milk chocolate experience that Ritter Sport deliver. The most apparent difference was the quality and pacing of the melt, which was a touch slower and thicker in viscosity, which resultingly helped the development of the flavours in the mouth. In terms of the taste the strength of both the cocoa and cream flavours seemed dialled up and most importantly increased in volume as the melt progressed. In terms of sweetness, compared to what I was used to from Ritter Sport there was less of a generic sugar emphasis, with more room given for the development of both the cocoa and cream elements. What I especially liked about this chocolate was that at the real latter stages of the melt development, the taste ended with a strong note of natural tasting vanilla, which importantly gave the chocolate a very distinctive finish.

Overall I know I say this a lot, but this really was a product that pleasantly surprised me as to how good it was. You will have seen across my many Ritter Sport reviews in the past that I have always labelled their milk chocolate as being generic tasting, and good at doing a no frills standard job. This chocolate here is evidence that the brand is really moving away from this, and are really moving in the right direction in regards to taking their milk chocolate to a new level. The better quality delivery of both flavours and textures of this new recipe, far superseeded any milk chocolate offering I have tried from them before, and I can only hope that they take this chocolate and apply it across the rest of the milk chocolate bars in their range. Being a guy that has tried hundreds (yes hundreds!) of different milk chocolates, what I always look for are ones that stand out and are distinctive in taste. Cadbury, Milka, Galaxy, Hershey, Hotel Chocolat, Zotter etc all meet that criteria (with varying success admittedly!) whereas Ritter isn't a brand I would previously have included in that category. This new recipe has opened that door for Ritter, and they deserve credit for not just settling at being average in class.

8.5 out of 10

May 27th: Ritter Sport Summer 2010

Some of my longer standing readership may remember that around twelve months ago I published my reviews of Ritter's Summer Sorte 2009. This was a range that comprised of three flavoured yoghurt bars made especially for the summer season - Raspberry Yoghurt, Peach & Passionfruit Yoghurt and the Wildberry Yoghurt.

If you look to the photo above you will see that one year on, the line-up for 2010 isn't much different, apart from the substitution of the Raspberry variety for a new Stracciatella variant. Below are photographs (courtesy of my father - great work old man!!) of the updated 2010 wrappers for both the Passionfruit and Wildberry variants. These aesthetic touch-ups aside, I can confirm that they didn't change from last year, and were still every bit as tasty - check out the links below the photographs for the reviews.

Ritter Sport Wildberry Yoghurt - See Review HERE

Ritter Sport Peach & Passionfruit Yoghurt - See Review HERE

As aforementioned, replacing the Raspberry Yoghurt for 2010 we have this Stracciatella bar, which came billed as 'milk chocolate with a milk cream filling with crunchy milk chocolate pieces'. As well as coming in the usual 100.0g form, this new flavour is also available in the mini-squares format (photo also taken by my father) ...see below.

Ritter Sport Stracciatella

Kcal 571 Fat 38.0g Carbs 51.0g (per 100.0g)

In terms of the quality of the packaging and presentation it wont surprise you to hear I thought everything was of the usual high Ritter standards. The wrapper was modern in design, whilst the inner bar looked very appealing with the cream filling generously sandwiched between the two fresh looking branded milk chocolate layers. Aroma wise the smells were noticeably sweeter than other milk chocolate based Ritter offerings - a nice smelling vanilla essence type hint helped to further my intrigue.

After some of the shortcomings that I experienced with some of the 2010 spring limited editions I was hoping Ritter Sport weren't going to let us down with this flavour, as Lindt had previously proven how tasty Stracciatella could be when done right. From the very first piece it became evident that this chocolate was pretty much everything I had hoped for from the Spring Vanilla Bourbon flavour, and was perhaps just a little bit better. The milk chocolate as always did a sterling job of carrying the inner filling, and provided the standard no frills chocolate flavour hit for each block. The nature of the chocolate allowed plenty of room for the expression of flavours from the milk cream centre, which melted with a slightly softer texture than the outer chocolate. The flavours were predominantly sweet and creamy, almost like condensed milk and finished with a delicious real tasting vanilla note. The difference between the quality of the vanilla influence from this bar and the Vanilla Bourbon spring bar was night and day - the vanilla in this Stracciatella chocolate tasted far more genuine and fresh. Whilst the vanilla flavours were the ones left lingering in the mouth at the latter stages of the melt, the small remnants of crunchy cocoa pieces further compounded the chocolatey flavours established by the outer coating. On reflection this wasn't the richest chocolate I have ever tasted due to the quickness at which it melted, but it was as satisfying as your average chocolate bar when eaten in a 50.0g portion.

Overall Ritter deserve a pat on the back for not only making a very fine Stracciatela chocolate, but also making a good decision when it came to their range. Considering I scored the Raspberry bar the lowest out of the three summer offerings last year, it was great to see Ritter chose that flavour as the one to make way for the new variant for 2010. I guess that shows that the average consumer must have also thought it was the weakest ... aren't I just brilliant :D Somewhat more importantly I guess, having picked the right one to replace, it was also going to be of up most importance that the new bar coming in was going to have to be even better. Those at Ritter Sport HQ can now take another bow, as this Stracciatella chocolate was one of the better bars I have had from them for a while. Just as the wrapper suggested, the filling delivered a chocolate chip, vanilla ice cream experience that was far superior to the disappointing Vanilla Bourbon of the season before. This summer 2010 range is one very much worth looking at and there is no better place to start than with this Stracciatella bar.

8.4 out of 10

May 3rd: Ritter Sport Bio Kakaosplitter Nuss

Kcal 498 Fat 33.0g Carbs 42.0g (per 100.0g)

Despite the never ending procession of new flavours and varieties coming out of Ritter towers in Germany, it has been a long while since I last reviewed a bar from their 'Bio' range. For those who haven't come across the 'Bio' sub brand before, I can inform you that it is the organic part of Ritter's portfolio, and there are currently six different flavours on the shelves. Thanks to the ever so kind people at Ritter Sport, I today got the opportunity to try this new Kakaosplitter Nuss flavour, which translates roughly as 'Cocoa Nibs & Nuts' to us English speaking folk. It was recently reported in the UK that sales of organic foods was down 7.0% in latest year, driven largely by the fact consumers are tightening their belts because of the recession. Due to this fact, I have very little confidence of this range ever making it to the UK, but I was still very keen to give a try nonetheless.

In line with the rest of the Bio range, this Kakaosplitter Nuss bar came in a 65.0g size that was split into sixteen mini sized blocks. One thing that I have consistently said about the Bio range is that Ritter Sport have done a fantastic job of communicating the natural proposition of the product through the packaging. Once again the wrapper had a fresh look, and the on-pack pictures were clear in communicating the flavour at hand. The chocolate itself looked similarly appetising and it was noticeable that not only did the surface look particularly smooth, but the inner chopped nuts were generously portioned and dispersed well throughout. Having commented on how fresh and sparkling the chocolate appeared, it probably won't surprise you to hear that the product had a strong aroma that was laden with enticing cocoa and nut scents. Speaking from past experiences, I tend to find that products that look and smell good, often turn out to be better tasting than others that aren't.

Speaking of the taste itself I can thankfully report that this bar provided further evidence of my above hypothesis. In comparison to standard line Ritter Sport milk chocolate I couldn't really detect a massive difference in the quality of the cream based, sweet cocoa taste, though there was a noticeable difference in the pace and feel of the melt as it felt softer and smooth in it's transition from it's solid state. Although the additional cocoa nibs were more subtle than other cocoa nib enhanced chocolates I have tried previously, the product was still better off for presence, as they drove home a friendly cocoa flavour hit without bringing any question of bitterness to the taste. Normally I am not really one for approving of chopped nut pieces, however the fine particles of hazelnut still delivered the desired woody, savoury nut flavours, whilst at the same time also bringing a satisfying crunch element to each and every block. A minor complaint of mine would be that I still am not a huge fan of the mini sized, Ritter blocks. The 65.0g size is too much for one sitting, though half a bar isn't all the satisfying - I think an 80.0g bar compromise is needed.

Overall this Bio range has never set the world alight for me but this Kakaosplitter Nuss was yet another solid offering. Apart from appearing and smelling a bit fresher than some of the standard Ritter bars, I honestly can't tell much of difference in the taste of the normal milk chocolate compared to the organic Bio chocolate. Although I didn't perceive anything out of the ordinary taste wise, this is not to say that the quality wasn't high, and once again Ritter proved that a relatively average milk chocolate can be seriously enhanced with some wonderful added ingredients. As I have gone in to above the additional cocoa nibs brought a richer chocolate flavour hit, whilst the chopped nuts were delightfully fresh tasting and crunchy. I wouldn't rank this as among the best Ritter Sport bars ever, but if you are after an all natural, nutty milk chocolate this would be a great place to start looking.

8.1 out of 10

April 27th: Ritter Sport V.I.P Editions

I know I have been feeding you all one Ritter Sport review a week for the past month or so, but today I bring you quite a special Ritter post.

Recently Ritter opened a new chocolate themed shop in Berlin, Germany, and to celebrate their grand opening they held an auction for 11 custom made bars that had been crafted by some German celeb VIPs. All proceeds of this auction went to the childrens charity organisation 'Children for a better world', so not only was there the opportunity to try some unique Ritter Sport chocolates, but at the same time there was the chance to help a really worthwhile cause(More details HERE).

Being the Ritter Sport fan I am, I couldn't let such an opportunity pass me by - so I threw my ChocolateMission hat in the ring and went about bidding on three bars via my German friends over at Candyholics (See HERE).

Below are the bars that I managed win - one crafted by Michaela May (German actress - See HERE), another by Caroline Link (German film director - See HERE), and last but not least Amelie Fried (German TV presenter & writer - See HERE). To be honest I had never heard of any of these people before, but I am sure they must be famous enough in Germany. They even went to the trouble of signing each of the 100.0g bars!


Ritter Sport - Michaela May

'Cranberry, orange nuggets and almond'

This was a milk chocolate bar crammed full of fruit and nut pieces. The chocolate was it's usual good standard, and simply just let the inner contents do the talking in the overall taste. The nuts were plentiful and crunchy, whilst both fruits were forthcoming in their juicy sweet flavours (the cranberries were especially tasty!). I have had many good fruit and nut chocolates in my time, but this one was very nice indeed. I can see Ritter Sport releasing a bar very similar to this in the near future for their permanent range - I for one wouldn't be disappointed if that was the case.


Ritter Sport - Amelie Fried

'Chilli, orange & ginger'

Ginger is not an ingredient that I have experienced with Ritter Sport before, but if this chocolate is anything to go by, we could soon have something very special lighting up the ChocolateMission rating system. As you can imagine, with both the ginger and chilli elements this was a quite a spicy chocolate, though the sweet orange oil made sure the heat generated never became too much. The aftertaste was long and warm and really left a lasting impression in the mouth. It is funny to say, but this reminded me a lot of the Christmas chocolates you get in Germany.

Ritter Sport - Caroline Link

'Ground chilli, shredded coconut and cocoa nibs'

Boy oh boy, Caroline must be a fan of spicy food ... well either that or the Ritter chocolatier got a little happy with the chilli flakes :D This was the bar I was most looking forward to trying, as I had never had the opportunity to try a flavour combination anything like this before. As I said the chilli was at times a little overwhelming (blow your head off levels of hotness!!), however there was a delicious, cooling effect generated by the milky, sweet nutty coconut that was spread generously throughout. The cocoa nibs took a bit of a back seat in terms of featuring in the taste, though they added a nice degree of crunchiness alongside the coconut bits.


Overall you guys may have noticed that there is one (or three!) things missing from today's post - the scoring charts of course!! Well, I have decided not to put a score on these bars - who am I to critique charity work!? The crux of the matter is these bars were crafted with good intentions, and it was a pleasure for me to get to feature them on this site. Ritter Sport claim to be a 'family company', and I can do little to dispute this when they are doing good deeds like this. I hope you enjoyed the post.

JIM

April 21st: Ritter Sport Milchcreme Mandel

Kcal 578 Fat 40.0 Carbs 47.0g (per 100.0g)

Coming straight off the back of my reviews of Ritter Sport's 2010 Spring range, I today have the pleasure of bringing you all my thoughts about their new 'variety of the year'. I understand that some of you may be starting to think that Ritter are making flavours for almost every day of the year, but if you think back to last years 'variety of the year', you may remember that the Ritter Sport Karamell Nuss proved to be a really fantastic limited edition that won several prizes in my 2009 awards. With that top of mind it wasn't like this Ritter Sport Milchcreme Mandel had a lot to live up to then did it ... no pressure :) ... at least the prospect of 'milk chocolate with a milk cream and almond nut filling' sounded like it had a chance of matching up.

Just like last years special edition this bar came in the usual 100.0g, sixteen chunk format that I devoured (with some help!!) over the course of two separate sittings. Looking at the wrapper it is was exactly what you would expect from Ritter Sport. It was clean cut in design, and simply presented with the inner milk cream and almond nut flavour well communicated through both branding and pictures. The chocolate itself was also pretty pleasing on the eye, with the light coloured cream centre visibly studded with small golden pieces of almond nut. Taking in the aromas on offer I detected the usual sweet chocolatey scents - as nice as these were I was a little disappointed that the nuts didn't have a presence at this point.

I always say that the smell of a chocolate is often indicative of the taste, and this particular bar would further strengthen my hypothesis. If you want to read about what I think about Ritter Sport milk chocolate in great detail I suggest you take a look at any of the 25+ Ritter Sport chocolates that I have reviewed which have included the stuff (to be more precise look - HERE). Long story cut short it was it's usual sweet, milky self - it wasn't really distinctive in any manner, but it did the job nicely of delivering a fair standard chocolate flavour hit with every chunk. Sandwiched in the centre of the outer milk chocolate the milk cream and almond centre did little but further compounded the creamy nature of the chocolate. At times the almond nuts did cut through adding a further buttery, nutty hints to the cream flavours, however these instances were few and far between and I would much rather the nuts of had a grander say in the taste. The work colleague I shared this bar with was not half as disappointed at the mildness of the almonds, but they did admit that they would have liked the nut pieces to have been larger in size.

Overall compared to other Ritter Sport flavours I would have to say this Milchcreme Mandel would be verging more towards being a 'miss' rather than a 'hit', but put in the perspective of the whole chocolate market it has to be considered a sound offering from our German friends. Fundamentally there was nothing wrong with this bar whatsoever - the chocolate was of a fair standard, the milk cream was ok and the nuts didn't detract from the experience in any manner. Unfortunately when I compare it to other bars in the Ritter range I wouldn't say it delivered the same impact with it's flavours that others have done in the past. I guess what I am trying to get at here is that if you want a pretty 'safe' tasting chocolate, that isn't overly elaborate in flavour then this would be a fairly decent option. However, if on the other hand you want a more exciting, hard hitting taste I think you are best off looking at other Ritter Sport alternatives.

7.0 out of 10

April 15th: Ritter Sport Cashew Milk Chocolate

Kcal 550 Fat 34.0g Carbs 51.0g (per 100.0g)

Today we complete the full circle of Ritter Sport 2010 Spring limited editions with this review of the Cashew Milk Chocolate offering. Over the past few weeks you may recall that both the Bourbon Vanilla and Hazelnut Krokant bars failed to leave up to the usual impeccable Ritter Sport standards, however I was hoping for much more from this Cashew Milk Chocolate variety. On pack this offering came described as 'Alpine milk chocolate with chopped cashew nuts', which struck me as yet another no frills, but appetising proposition from our friends in Deutschland.

Who wants to have a guess at what size this bar came in!? DING DING we have a winner ... indeed it was yet another 100.0g square block that was divided into the usual 16 chunks. Take a look at the packaging shot above and you will see that this variant incorporated the same cool looking spring themed wrapper as the other vanilla and hazelnut variants, though the cashew flavouring was also well communicated with the subtle nut pictures. Unsealing the plastic wrapper a pleasant array of nutty, chocolatey scents emerged ... all was good up until this point at least.

Who wants me to talk about Ritter Sport milk chocolate again :D Haha I thought not. Suffice to say the taste was pretty much the same as normal, though I did sense a slight change in the pace of the melt and overall texture. Flavour wise it was possibly a touch creamier than other Ritter Sport milk chocolate bars, but this may have just been a consequence of the softer, smoother texture which obviously came about due to the oil being released from the nuts. Whilst the chocolate was faster paced in melt, the nuts were fresh to the bite and despite yielding more easily than your normal hazelnut etc, they still maintained a satisfying crunch. I am glad to say that after the disappointment of the last Bourbon Vanilla and Hazelnut Krokant chocolates, the inner cashew nuts proved to be a far better additive to the chocolate, and they brought a delicious buttery, savoury nut dimension to the chocolate. Due to the melt being a touch on the faster side this wasn't the most satisfying or fulfilling Ritter Sport chocolate ever but I thought that a quadrant of blocks was a decent amount serving size to accompany an after dinner coffee.

Overall I actually didn't do this on purpose this time, but it seems like I saved the best until last in regards to the flavours on offer from the Ritter Sport Spring 2010 collection. It wont surprise you to read that where this bar excelled was in the enhancing additive flavour, the chocolate was as usual of a sound quality but it was the cashew nuts that made this bar what it was. The extra dimension the cashews brought to the softer texture was only outshone but the tasty nutty flavours they brought to the taste. I am not quite sure I would say the cashews proved to be preferable versus the Ritter whole hazelnut bars (of which I rate extremelly highly - See HERE), but this bar does back up my view that cashews are criminally under utilised by chocolate manufacturers, and that more should try using them in the future. If I was to suggest you try one flavour from the Spring 2010 range from Ritter this year it would have to be this Cashew Milk Chocolate flavour.

8.0 out of 10

April 9th: Ritter Sport Haselnuss Krokant

Kcal 563 Fat 37.0g Carbs 52.0g (per 100.0g)

Last week I brought to you the first of three new Ritter limited editions, the Ritter Sport Bourbon Vanille (See HERE). Well guess what!? Today I bring you numero dos from this new spring collection - the Haselnuss Krokant variety. On the back of the wrapper this offering was described as 'milk chocolate with a hazelnut creme, hazelnut & almond brittle and rice cereal'. As I have stated in many of my previous reviews Ritter Sport are renowned for the prestige of their fillings, and it isn't very often that they let us consumers down - this bar had real potential.

Prepared in the same style packaging as the Bourbon Vanille flavour, this Haselnuss Krokant variant similarly struck a fresh and appealing look. The pastel colours again struck me as bright and welcoming, whilst the pictures of the hazelnut and almonds communicated the flavour of theme of the bar and in an non-overly elaborate manner. Unzipping the 100.0g bar from it's resealable packaging, the 4x4 quadrants broke up with relative ease, and the beige coloured centre filling looked very appealing and plentiful in it's implementation. Inspecting the chocolate more closely the nutty smells that emanated from the chocolate weren't the strongest but they did a sound job in maintaining my interest.

What more is there to say about Ritter Sport milk chocolate that I haven't said in the previous 40+ Ritter Sport reviews I have written before!? To be honest there isn't, it just did the same average job of carrying the inner filling with little fuss and delivered the usual chocolate flavour hit that I have come to used to. Moving on to more important matters, I have the bad news of telling you that the inner nut filling wasn't quite up to scratch. Starting off with the positives the smoothness of the creme contrasted nicely with the crunchy nut and cereal elements which did at least bring a degree of interest in the textures. Unfortunately though the taste just wasn't up to scratch with Ritter's previous showings. I found that the creme and nut brittle constituents didn't deliver the desired nut flavours, whilst the rice cereal was unsurprisingly very mild and didn't contribute anything in terms of flavours. What really surprised me was that neither the hazelnut or almond came to the fore of the taste. The nut brittle pieces offered little apart from minor bursts of brown sugar, with the nutty influences were very much in the background of the taste. The totality of this all was that the flavour longevity was pretty limited, thus I didn't find that chocolate all that satisfying.

Overall my conclusions about this bar are very similar to my thoughts around the Ritter Sport Bourbon Vanille in that whilst it was hardly a bad tasting chocolate, but it was disappointing nonetheless. Disappointing is exactly the word that describes this bar best - when you think about what the bar promised (hazelnut creme, hazelnut & almond brittle) I bet you were thinking that this was going to be yet another review with me raving about how well Ritter Sport produce nutty chocolates. This assumption couldn't have been further off the mark as the nuts played such a minor part in the overall taste. To be honest I think someone with a nut allergy would barely get a rash eating this chocolate (joke!!) - it was that underpowered. Nipping all my criticism in the bud this still wasn't a disaster of a chocolate - yes it was poor in the light of the implementation of the nuts, but the chocolate and variable textures from the creme, cereal, brittle still offered some interest. Long story cut short - not a Ritter bar I would recommend but you could do worse.

6.8 out of 10

March 30th: Ritter Sport Bourbon Vanille

Kcal 578 Fat 39.g Carbs 51.0g (100.0g)

Over the course of the last two years I have managed to review over 40 different varieties of Ritter chocolates. The last few months I have had to rely on some of my loyal readers to provide me with the latest Ritter varieties (thanks Susie, Susanne and Fran!!) what with the demise of my old pals at Dean-German-Grocery. Luckily for me now Ritter Sport themselves have discovered ChocolateMission, and have started sending me samples of the latest flavours to hit the market. Over the coming weeks I will be reviewing Ritter's latest Spring varieties, starting today with this Bourbon Vanille offering.

Anyone experienced with Ritter chocolates will know that it is very unusual for Ritter to stray away from their 100.g formant, so it wont surprise you to hear that the new Spring collection sticks to this very size. Packaging and presentation wise the wrapper struck me as very fresh feeling, and I liked how the vanilla flavouring was communicated through the simplicity of the small vanilla pod picture and yellow pastel colouring. When the resealable packet was first unzipped a prominent sweet floral smell wafted out, though it grew noticeably weaker by the day when it was left to air between sittings. Out the packet the chocolate itself looked relatively appetising with the pale yellow filling taking a nice proportion of the cross-section.

I am a huge fan of all things vanilla - so much so that when offered a choice between things like chocolate or vanilla flavoured milkshakes or ice cream, I would always go with the latter. With this knowledge in tow you can probably understand that I was massively looking forward to try this chocolate, especially when Ritter Sport have proven themselves to be good at a wide variety of different filled chocolates. The sound of 'milk chocolate with a bourbon-vanilla creme' literally had me drooling in anticipation, but I have the bad news of informing you that it wasn't quite as good as I thought it was going to be. The milk chocolate was everything you would expect from Ritter Sport and was it's usual unspectacular self. It was relatively forthcoming in cocoa flavours with a undercurrent of milk tones that made for a smooth, but average milk chocolate experience. Whilst that sounds a little uninspiring it was the vanilla filling that let it down for me, which is something I wasn't expecting to have to write. The creme initially had a strong vanilla essence impact in the mouth, but it was soon dominated by an overbearing level sweetness that made it redundant. The levels of sugar in the taste made this a chocolate that wasn't particularly nice eating in large quantities, and though I did finish the entirety of the bar eventually, it took me over 4 sittings to do so.

Overall I don't know if this was just a consequence of me expecting too much from this flavour, but I was massively disappointed with it. With all Ritter Sport varieties the chocolate is never meant to take centre stage so it is understandable that the average milk chocolate on offer acted just as a vehicle to carry the inner filling. As I stated above the real disappointment came in the execution of the vanilla filling, which for me was under par in comparison to most of the other Ritter Sport offerings that I have reviewed down the years. The bourbon vanilla was there in the first few moments of the filling being exposed, however it's longevity was cut short by the dominance of the sugar, which made it a relatively bland and one dimensional experience by Ritter Sport's standards. It would be interesting to hear what any of you readers thought of this bar, as perhaps this is me being harsh on something that I just had undeliverable expectations for. There are still two more flavours from the Spring collection to come - lets hope they are a little bit better than what was on offer here.

6.9 out of 10

February 2nd: Ritter Sport Olympia

Kcal 560 Fat 37.0g Fat(sats) 20.0g Carbs 49.0g

Although having received many hints from ChocolateMission reader Susanne that I should review this Ritter Sport Olympia bar, it wasn't until my dear friend Franzi from Germany was so kind to send me one along that I finally got around to trying it. The Ritter Sport Olympia was first seen on the German market as a limited edition flavour that coincided with the last Olympic Games. After much public outcry about it being taken out of distribution after the Olympics finished Ritter Sport finally saw sense and last year brought it back as permanent flavour in their portfolio. Described on pack as 'milk chocolate with a yogurt filling with honey, nuts and dextrose' it sounded like a flavour that really could be to my liking.

Forming part of the standard 100.0g range I couldn't help but finish all twenty-five pieces in only two sittings. Looking at the packaging I was immediately reminded of the Goldenschwartz flavour that I tried back in 2009 with the golden foil wrapper catching the eye for all the right reasons. The chocolate inside was split into the standard sized Ritter Sport blocks and looked particularly appetising with the white coloured filling studded with golden bits of nuts. Taking a good smell of the bar the overriding scents came from the chocolate, though there was a slight hint of floral honey.

Having been given quite the build up in terms of recommendations from my readers this was a chocolate that had a lot to live up to and I am glad to say it did exactly that. As you will have seen across my 30+ Ritter Sport reviews before the quality of Ritter's milk chocolate is not one that I would say is anywhere near top of the best ever milk chocolates but like so many of the reviews that have gone before this was very much all about the delicious filling. The chocolate was not bad by any means but the predominantly milk led taste it substantiated was soon playing second fiddle to the filling that was sandwiched in the middle. Initially the filling reminded me of a slightly tarter version of the Ritter Sport Yogurt bar, however the sourness was soon taken out of the taste by the sweetness brought to the part by the note of honey that developed as the melt progressed. Sitting within the yogurty centre, small pieces of crunchy hazelnut and dextrose (honeycomb to me and you I think) brought additional hints of woody hazelnut and golden syrup to the taste. The overall experience was varied and progressive in terms of both flavours and textures and I savoured every last piece from the very first to the very last.

Overall I was pleased that this bar was as good as it was as given all the recommendations I got sent about it before I finally got the chance to try it myself this week. If Ritter Sport could improve one thing about their range I would suggest that they try to improve the quality of their milk chocolate. Like I said above it isn't bad by any means but if it was just a little tastier I think it would take a bit of pressure off the quality of the fillings which luckily for Ritter seem to pretty much always be superb - the yogurt, honey and nut filling of the Olympia certainly was! What I enjoyed most about the bar was the variance in flavours and textures it offered whilst the melt progressed the longer it was in the mouth. The sourness of the yogurt and sweetness of the honey and dextrose was delicious and I would suggest that fans of the original Ritter Sport Yogurt bar really take a look at trying this Olympia bar if given half a chance. This was the first time I ever tried this chocolate and it sure wont be the last.

8.9 out of 10

December 22nd: CHOCOLATEMISSION AWARDS 2009 - PART 4

BEST NEW PRODUCT OF 2009

These awards are for the top 3 bits of NPD (new product development) we have seen in 2009. As with the rest of these awards I am not handing these placings out based on their final overall score but more the total consensus that I think the public has come to about them. This includes how widely available they are, price and discounts limited editions.

*drumroll* ... and in 3rd place ... we have

Thorntons Milk Chocolate with Tonka Bean:

Making it's 2nd appearance in the awards this year we have the Thorntons Milk Chocolate with Tonka Bean bar. This was one of the tastiest milk chocolates that I had all year is one that I have bought for many a friend as a gift. Introduced midway through the year as part of Thorntons square bar range this stood out as a really flavoursome offering with its extra creamy tastes noted with hints of vanilla and honey. Well worth a try ... See the Review .. HERE.

*drumroll* ... and in 2nd place ... we have

..

Ritter Sport Karamell Nuss:

Ritter Sport are known for their copious amount of flavours but this was one I really loved. Formed of milk chocolate with a caramel creme centre with hazelnut and rice crispie pieces this was outstanding in every sense. As with every Ritter bar the centre took centre stage and it utterly delicious with its buttery, nutty taste. This maybe not be readily available for all us Brits but those of you living in main land Europe should really have tried this by now... See the Review ... HERE.

*drumroll* and in 1st place ... for BEST NEW PRODUCT OF 2009 ...

We have ...

..

.

Cadbury Dairy Milk Caramel Nibbles:

Taking the title of best new product of 2009 we have the insanely moreish Cadbury Dairy Milk Cadbury Nibbles. In terms of concept these were not ground breaking but were in fact ridiculously simple. These Caramel Nibbles if you haven't come across them simply include the minor addition of a dose of Cadbury Caramel to the usual Dairy Milk Buttons. This may simple but the result is marvellous and they have to be one of the most moreish products I have ever eaten. At the time I rated them slightly lower than the comparable Galaxy Caramel Pieces, though the latter seem to only be a seasonal addition to the Galaxy range. In comparison everyone I know seems to have tried these Caramel Nibbles at some point, with pretty much everyone having nothing but great things to say about them. For that reason this product wins the award for BEST NEW PRODUCT OF 2009 ... See the Review ... HERE.

Coming Tomorrow: Readers Choice Award 2009

December 2nd: Ritter Sport Spekulatius

Kcal ??? Fat ??? Fat(sats) ??? Carbs ???

With 2 days now open on advent calendars around the globe it is time again today to get our heads around yet another festive offering from the chocolate market this time from Germany. It has been a while now since I last got stuck into a Ritter Sport bar but thanks to ChocolateMission reader Susie over the last few days I have been eating my way through this Spekulatius limited edition chocolate. Now for anyone living outside Germany the first obvious question would of course be 'what is Spekulatius?' ... thanks to my friend Wikipedia I can tell you that it is a biscuit originating from the Rhineland area of Germany and is often consumed around Christmas time. Availability of this bar appears to be limited to middle Europe - so don't expect it popping up in the UK anytime soon.

This chocolate came in the usual 100.0g Ritter Sport size and was split into 5x4 blocked dimensions. Looking at the packaging I think more could have been made of its festive spirit but I at least got the sense that it was a 'winter flavour' given its leafy dark brown and black secondary colours. Inside the chocolate looked very similar to the Ritter Sport Butter Biscuit variant though the biscuit was a bit darker in colour and seemed a little crumblier when I split the blocks apart. In regards to smell the bar smelt pretty appetising with some sweet spicy influences present amongst the dominant aromas of the milk chocolate.

I will save you the boredom of me describing the quality of the Ritter Sport milk chocolate for the 1000th time and just leave you with the reassurance that the sweet, milk prominent flavours were kind to the taste and delivered the all important chocolate hit with a well paced, flowing melt. The part I am sure you are all more interested in is the Spekulatius biscuit which was certainly not backwards in terms of delivering flavour. Towards the back end of the melt of the chocolate and the emergence of the biscuit, the spice flavours really started coming through with the ginger very much forthcoming. In comparison to the Butter Biscuit variant the inner cookie was as I preconceived softer in texture melted with minimal ease of the tongue releasing some explosive flavours. In addition to the original ginger spice coming through the majority of the latter taste was dominated by a cinnamon flavour influence with notes of nutmeg and roasted nut coming through from time to time. Due to it's biscuity nature this didn't feel like the most appropriate chocolate to eat in vast quantities and felt more suited to eating a few blocks at a time with a coffee.

Overall this was not the best Ritter Sport chocolate I have ever had but it certainly held its own in what is a very competitive range. The Ritter Sport Butter Biscuit is a chocolate that I used to eat quite commonly before I set up this site so I am in a pretty good position to make a side-by-side comparison. Unfortunately though I am just going to have to sit on the fence regarding which one is ultimately superior ... completely unhelpful I know :) In regards to taste the milk chocolate used on both is obviously the same so the differences lie solely with the actual biscuits. Personally I would say that I slightly prefer the creamier, butter taste of the Butter Biscuit variant though I would say that this Spekulatius is definitely the richer more satisfying choice out of the two. As much as I have tried to pull them apart I just can't do so, and thus have to be happy with my conclusion that I would happily consume either given the choice. In isolation as a Christmas offering this ticks all the boxes for me with its warming spicy taste delivered nicely in a well rounded sweet chocolate - it is well worth a look at to get you in the mood this December.

8.4 out of 10

June 25th: Ritter Sport Ramazzotti

Kcal ??? Fat ??? Fat(sats) ??? Carbs ???

My relentless progress through Ritter Sport's seemingly never ending product range continued today with me trying the Ritter Sport Ramazotti. Although Dean-German-Grocery recently sent me Ritter's new summer variants (See HERE), this bar was actually part of their Spring collection as was indicated on the wrapper. Before I had seen this bar I had never actually heard of Ramazzotti - a little bit of research revealed that it was a tonic liqueur that is normally enjoyed as an aperitif or an after dinner drink (more HERE).

As you can see above the product came in the usual 100.0g Ritter form. I thought the packaging was well executed with the red and white colour theme making the wrapper stand out nicely along with the added illustrations. Although the chocolate itself looked very similar to other bars in the Ritter range, the smell of the product really made it stand out as it emanated a strong mix of liqueur and boozy scents once opened.

To be honest I really did not enjoy the first couple of blocks I had of this chocolate. As with 90% of Ritter bars the chocolate took a back seat to the additional filling and this unfortunately wasn't a good thing. The Ramazzotti took a really firm grasp on the taste from the outset and frankly tasted like the cheap bottle of booze kept at the back of most families liqueur cabinets. The mild and creamy cocoa flavours soon paled in comparison to the herby, slightly bitter alcohol flavours of the softer centre. As I ate the bar I must admit that my taste buds adapted to the harshness of the filling and it certainly became more bearable. The later pieces I had did seem to bringe pleasant elements of orange fruit and notes of honey to the party but I still wasn't left feeling like I wanted to eat more.

Overall this bar was far from being one of the best Ritter Sport flavours I have tried. Although I did become more accustom the taste of the Ramazzotti I never got to the point of actually thoroughly enjoying the chocolate. This is another one of those Ritter bars that I think you can either love or hate - if your a regular drinker of Ramazzotti chances are that you will really quite like this bar as the milk chocolate allows the flavours to be expressed well and makes for a lovely smooth melting texture. This is probably a bar I would neither have again or recommend, though if your a fan of the drink it would great to hear your views on it.

6.7 out of 10

Head to Dean-German-Grocery for all your German Candy & Chocolate Needs